L Abramson Bedroom/City CD

L. Abramson sings with her hollow-body electric guitar the unusual songs that people shut up to listen to. Dark and melancholic, her songs have both sweet and sad undertones, without the kind of art-kid pretension that makes a dictionary an essential accessory at some shows. Leah sings songs that are haunting, intelligent and beautiful, like the long lost love-child of Jason Molina and Joni Mitchell. She is devoted to songcraft and performance, all the while wrapping dark themes in lovely melodies. 2005 sees the release of her new CD, Bedroom/City: 9 songs, some hopeful, some bitter, but all lyrically unique with poignant sentiments.AMERICANA UKL. Abramson “Bedroom/City” (Copperspine Records 2005) Some good signs among strong influence The first full length record by Vancouver native Leah Abramson (there was previously an ep ‘8 songs from the attic’). She has an interesting voice that wanders from a Woodstock era Joni Mitchell on ‘Alligators’ to something akin to a Neil Young ‘After The Goldrush’ falsetto on ‘Hallmark Lullaby Company’. Less predictably ‘Gerberas’ has that lazy Cat Power quality, with the ghost of Elliott Smith affecting the mood. The opening track has a drone not a million miles from Nick Drake’s ‘Know’. For ‘Soft Parts’ we’re back in Cat Power territory, but more due to the guitar than the vocals. Having just rattled off a list of strong influences, that’s not to say this is an overly derivative record, merely the title of ‘(Come to the) Landfill’ invokes more imagery than many songwriters muster with acres of lyrics, this song has a lighter more optimistic note than much of the record, its hard to be sad when a kazoo features, though the line ‘we’ll search for diamonds’ is possibly stretching the optimism into something altogether different. Closer ‘Emergency Exit Plan’ is arguably the best on the record, as affecting a suicide/runaway song as you could wish to hear, and, admirably, Leah does it without sinking too much into Morrissey-esque self pity, ‘I like to make life difficult for myself, so if I skip town in a while tonight, I wont be back and I wont be found’. There’s a very odd little hidden track about 12 minutes into track 9, for a while you’re not sure whether you’re listening to something being played backwards or forwards! Shake looser of some of the influences and she’ll be really onto something. Date review added:  Sunday, June 11, 2006Reviewer:  Patrick WilkinsReviewers Rating: Related web link:  www.leahabramson.com